What happened to ‘she’ll be right mate’?

You only have to look at the furore caused by the Fremantle Council to celebrate “inclusion day” on January 28 rather than Australia Day on January 26. The deputy-Prime Minister, dear old Barnaby was livid, basically telling Fremantle and all local councils they should get back in their box and look after roads and rates and digging holes. Not exactly in those words but good enough. It raises the question, why have the Coalition become so vitriolic?

And is it all due to the fear of Pauline Hanson? And a desire not to offend middle Australia without exactly saying you support anything Pauline says?  But first lets take a look at Australia Day, the January 26 version. We have a nagging belief that if you asked many under 25s what's important about it they would say Triple J’s top 100. And we shouldn’t condemn them for that.

Here’s what the Australia Day website says: ‘Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet from Great Britain in 1788.’ (It wasn’t the first landing however, that took place days earlier at Botany Bay). It goes on. Celebrations reflect contemporary Australia: our diverse society...It also is an opportunity to reflect on our nation's history, and to consider how we can make Australia an even better place in future. So, read into that as you will.

Back to Barnaby. Mate give us a break. Hats off to Freo Council for showing real community leadership - another reason councillors are elected. A date doesn't make us Australian. But an inability to show any empathy to a large section of our community shows how shallow we can be. However, unlike Barnaby, we believe most Australians are better than that. It’s all a perfect example of why so many have turned towards smaller parties. We are sick of the spin, and the sound bites, and the poll watching and the lack of any real original thought.

We are not against Australia Day. We need to celebrate our great country and its people, we just believe it should be all of them. And does it really matter if its on January 26? How about we all get a bit fairdinkum?

 For the record. The first Austral Day was the brainchild of Ellen Warton-Kirke and was held on July 30, 1915. It was a fundraising day for the war effort. What's more, Australia Day wasn't celebrated nationally on the one day until 1994.